CHAPTER III
SHIPSHAPING
Just to show that grown folks, when they are home-grown, appreciatechildren's aspirations and often delight in promoting them, theequipment for Camp Comalong when it "camalong" was a big surpriseindeed. Parents of the little troop, the "Junior Bobolinks" as theydecided to call themselves, united in procuring a regulation outfitfor the girls; and the site finally chosen was on a hill overlookingthe lake, near enough other camps and especially near to one camp inwhich was "housed" a club of Normal School young women, secretlypledged to "have an eye" on Camp Comalong.
The girls could scarcely believe that all the freight consignmentpiled up on the small floor of that office could really be for them.Corene "fell to" immediately and took charge. She ordered the othersabout as if she were a qualified directress, indeed, and sent each ona different errand somewhere: to get a couple of express men to cartthe stuff to the grounds, to get a carpenter to cut some strong tentpegs, to get the hammers, the saws, the hatchets and so many necessaryimplements that it seemed the Bobolinks were not going to follow outthe primitive living system of their namesakes, the little birds thatsing as they fly, and seem to need the songs to propel the wings, aseach fluttering movement is accompanied by its fluttering song.
But speed was the important issue with the "Bobbies," so whatever theymay have overlooked in the way of real Scout endurance and personallabor for the establishment of the camp, they surely made up for withtheir enthusiasm and direct energy.
The ownership of a horse and wagon, or of anything that would run (attimes) by motor, was all that a man at the lake needed to qualify himas an "expressman," hence the necessity of looking for more than oneof such conveyances to get the equipment out to the woods in time tobegin work that day.
"If we leave it all to old Sam it will get there by the end of theweek," reasoned Corene, "and we must get things moving. Louise, askthe grocer if he will take these boxes for us."
"But why not take one of our cars?" suggested Julia. "You may haveours this morning, I'm sure."
"No, thank you, Julie. This stuff is rough and scratchy, and there'sno use starting out to damage things. But isn't it too wonderful?These are real army tents and there's a----"
"Flagpole!" sang out Cleo. "I should think we might have found a deadtree for that purpose."
"I believe our family made that contribution," said Grace. "Mother wasafraid we would start out wrong and not have the colors right away, soshe ordered a flag and pole."
"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed Cleo. "Of course a handsome flag shouldfly from a proper standard bearer. I never suspected we were going tohave such a complete outfit."
"The flag is at our cottage," added Grace. "Benny will bring it overas soon as we are ready. It's a perfect beauty--size six by four."
"Oh, and we can raise and lower the colors and all that!" enthusedJulia. "Now we know how much better fun all this is than just dressingup at some fashionable summer place."
"Heaps," agreed Corene. "But I say, girls, we don't really have tostand around here waiting to see all this put on the wagons----"
"I would never trust those indifferent men to get it sent out to-dayif we didn't just stay here and superintend," declared Cleo. "I havetwo promises for two men with light trucks. Let's see if either willcome."
So the real work began. But it was all so novel, and the woods smelledso of the pines and cedars and larches--no wonder that spot had beengiven the name Tamarack Hills.
By night fall the camp site had been cleared; the girls raised apretty crop of blisters in their frantic efforts to get things cutdown. The tent pegs were all driven in, Benny and his Boy Scoutfriends helped with the driving, but the hoisting of the tent wasconsidered too important a task to be left to "such little girls," somuch against the ambition of Corene that piece of work was actuallydone by a corps of real Scouts--to wit--three very interested fathers,who came to the camp site in the autos that brought them from theearly evening train.
For the sake of identification we will call these gentlemen aftertheir daughters, so it was Mr. Cleo who ran the ridge pole under thecenter of the tent, while Messrs. Julia and Louise, at the signal,raised the tent by lifting the poles and carrying them to theirplaces. It took some little time to get the big canvas house properlyadjusted, but it was worth all the trouble.
"Hurrah!" shouted the Bobbies as their headquarters was finally inevidence.
"How can we ever go home and leave it to-night?" bewailed Grace.
"Folks at home are worrying lest you have worked too hard to-day,"declared the man with the big gray car. "You must come along,kiddies."
"But we didn't, daddy, really," protested Corene. "We loafed more thanwe worked. There was so much to see and so many things to distract us.I'm not one bit tired."
"Oh, h-h-h!" groaned Louise, almost falling into Cleo's arms. "Sheisn't a bit tired! I'm dead!"
"But Corey is always in such good form," said Julia. "This is whereall her exercising comes in."
They were gathering up such tools and accessories as could not be leftaround on the grounds over night, and incidentally gathering upthemselves, when the clap-clap-clippity-clap of horse's hoofs washeard coming over the hills.
The road was narrow, merely a way driven into a road by the campers'use, and as the car with the Bobbies' fathers and the newly organizedcamp troop carefully picked their way out into the broaderthoroughfare, Peg, the girl rider, came into sight.
"There she is!" Grace gave the usual announcement, and this time thegirls had opportunity for a close-up view of the interesting, originalGirl Scout of Tamarack Hills.
She pulled her horse up to allow the cars to pass, and it seemed tothe Scouts that she deliberately tossed her head up in a defiant posethat turned her face away from them. But in spite of this theyobtained a good view of the rider.
She wore a suit, the origin of which would be at once proclaimed"Western." The divided skirt was of brown leather with thatpicturesque fringe slashed in, so markedly popular in pictures ofMexican or Southwestern girl riders, her blouse "matched horribly," asCleo put it, for while it was Indian in design, and also carried theslashed fringe, the material was common khaki, well washed out anddeplorably faded. It might have been part of a boy's play suit, for itseemed in no way related either to the girl or to her leather ridingskirt.
Her hat was broad brimmed and of tan felt--still another shade of thevarious browns, and again suggesting another inception. It looked a"whole lot like the Boy Scouts' hat," whispered Grace.
Surprising to relate, this girl had neither the popularly featured"bronze, red nor sunny hair," and it was dark, black actually; nor didit curl the least bit, for what fell over the ears (it was croppedvery short) glistened even in the twilight.
All this was observable because in the narrow road the cars werealmost stopped, and Peg's horse nosed right up to Cleo, with a veryfriendly whinnie.
"Dads might think we are looking for that sort of thing," whisperedthe conservative Louise. And if to be camp Scouts should mean "thatsort of thing," her caution, just then, seemed warranted.